Experts urge ban on tobacco advertising, paper says

Public health and legal experts in China are urging that a comprehensive ban on tobacco-related advertising and promotion be included in an amended law aimed at curbing smoking, China Daily reported Monday. Public comment on the law is currently underway online and will continue until March 24. “Compared with the current version, it has been improved, but it still lags behind the World Health Organization’s standards,” Xu Guihua, deputy director of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, was quoted as saying. Advertising is a critically important issue because it is known to increase tobacco use, particularly among young people, Xu said. Fabio Scano, head of disease control at the World Health Organization’s China office, was quoted as saying that “banning all forms of tobacco advertising is one of the most cost-effective measures governments can take to reduce demand for tobacco products.”

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